I am very happy to announce that on April 19th, the California Department of Fish & Wildlife (DFW) denied a recent Petition from the Center for Biological Diversity which attempted to expand the regulatory definition of “suction dredge” to include our new method of underwater suction mining. Had the Petition been approved, our new method would have been prevented by California’s existing state-wide moratorium on suction dredge mining.

Amongst other reasons for denying the Petition, DFW pointed out that the Karuks and their allies had plenty of opportunity to expand the regulatory definition when they participated in the multi-million dollar administrative process that was formally completed about a year ago.

It is nice to win one every once in a while. This was a big one. It now provides a green light for what is adding up to a very productive mining season in California! More on this below.

Let’s Please Proceed Carefully!

All I can say is that we have not seen excitement levels this high since the early 90’s! Lots of members have already arrived in Happy Camp. Plenty more will be arriving. With this in mind, I ask that everyone very carefully consider the following points:

1) We have carefully developed very reasonable Operation Guidelines over the last 27 years. Everyone should please review them. You can obtain a copy from our office (530 493-2012). No member has ever received a citation from the authorities while pursuing their activities along our properties within these guidelines.

2) We have recently included a section in our Operation Guidelines which addresses our new method of underwater suction mining. These guidelines are the best we can do with an activity which is in its infancy. Adjustments are likely as we learn more. The California Department of Fish & Wildlife wardens are already out checking on the first members who are doing suction mining. So far, so good! Mainly they are looking to make sure that no sluice boxes are associated with motorized suction systems.

You should be aware that they have brought up an entirely new concept of “constructive dredging.” This is where someone would use a motorized suction device to bring gravel to the surface, and then use a sluice somewhere else to process the material. I have my own doubts that the “constructive dredging” concept would hold up in a contested court hearing. But be warned in advance that there may be some risk in using any sluice to process gravel that is transferred by a motorized suction system. There are other ways to concentrate material that do not require a sluice box. Since volume levels will be low, I believe even traditional gold panning will work in many circumstances.

One member has already arrived with a catch container that shakes on the deck of his floating platform (automatic gold panning machine)! He is using motorized suction to feed water and gravel to the bottom of the container. Shaking allows the material to concentrate in his catch container. I’m sure others will arrive with other interesting innovations.

3) Anti-mining activists are using Cal Tip as a way to lodge anonymous complaints against some members who are already prospecting on the river. Wardens say they intend to respond to each complaint. So far, the wardens have been very polite and courteous. Let’s please respond in kind. There is no reason to make the process more painful than necessary. As long as you are operating within the guidelines, my guess is that they will only come out to take a look at you one time (because anti-mining activists are going to be keeping them busy).

Please be aware that if you are outside of the guidelines, you will likely receive a citation and create a bad reflection upon everyone else who is doing it the right way.

4) Please review once again the Memo put out by our attorney concerning our (your) relationship with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). It is important that you understand the legal limits of the roles that officials play. Just so you know, we have circulated this Memo, and received acknowledgment that it is accurate, all the way to the top of USFS Minerals in WashingtonD.C. The reason I say this is important is that anti-mining activists are broadcasting that the recent Ninth Circuit Court Decision changed USFS regulations regarding small-scale mining on the public lands – which is completely false.

Here it is as I understand it: The mining laws allow all Americans free and open access on the public lands for the purpose of prospecting. There is no requirement of making any contact, getting any permission or providing any notice (NOI) of what we are doing to any authorities until such time that we believe our activities will create a significant surface impact. I know this is kind of hard to believe in this day and age where Americans need permission from the government for nearly everything we do. Take it from me on this one: Asking permission to access the public lands for the purpose of small-scale prospecting will almost surely work against you these days!

Here it is: Under existing USFS regulations, we are only requested to file a Notice of Intent (NOI) with the USFS if we believe our prospecting may create a significant surface impact. Submitting a Notice is not a requirement. There is no penalty for not submitting a Notice.

Prior to the Ninth Circuit Decision, if we provided USFS with an explanation (Notice) of what we were doing, the local Ranger used to go through an internal process to assess if what we were doing was likely to create a significant surface impact. Now the Ranger will be required to consult with other agencies to perform this assessment. That is likely to involve more time. A lot more time! So providing a notice (Notice), or asking permission, or even providing an explanation of your prospecting method, is a sure way to get yourself stopped in your tracks, even if you are not required to consult with USFS in the first place!

Welcome to modern America!

In thirty years on the Klamath National Forest, the Happy Camp, Scott and Upper Salmon River Rangers have never once considered that The New 49’ers, even as a whole group, were likely to create a significant surface impact. Therefore, as an individual, I don’t know why anyone doing small-scale prospecting would believe any type of Notice or explanation would be necessary.

Here is the important catch: There is no format to a Notice. Therefore, a simple verbal explanation of your process could serve as a formal Notice, “I am using this motorized pumping machine to transfer small amounts of gravel from out in the river over to the side of the river where I can process it with a gold pan.” That detailed explanation can serve as a Notice, which can then open the door for the Ranger to ask you to stop while he consults with multiple other agencies to decide if there might be a significant surface disturbance. “Thank you very much for your cooperation. No good deed goes unpunished these days. Please stop what you are doing while we get a whole bunch of others involved. Come back next year and we will tell you what we think…”

Here is the reality: Prospecting processes are private, proprietary matters, much like the formulas which make up protected commercial products. Your prospecting processes are nobody else’s business. There is no requirement for you to disclose your methods and processes to anyone, especially the government. I don’t want my competitors to know my secrets. I also don’t want them made available to anti-mining activists through the Freedom of Information Act. There is no authority in the USFS regulations that allows the Ranger to demand an explanation of your prospecting process. Though it doesn’t mean he will not ask for an explanation (verbal Notice). Anything you disclose to the USFS will certainly become part of the public record. My understanding is that the USFS only has the authority to concern itself with the surface impact that you are (not) creating, and only if the impact is significant. Nothing more. They are welcome to look at the surface impact. Your methods and processes are your own business. I strongly advise that you keep them private.

Let me say it a different way: There are several specific exemptions to the requirement of providing any Notice in the USFS regulations. One important one is as follows:

“Sec. 228.4 Notice of intent–plan of operations–requirements. (a)(1) A notice of intent to operate is not required for: (ii) Prospecting and sampling which will not cause significant surface resource disturbance and will not involve removal of more than a reasonable amount of mineral deposit for analysis and study …”

Since no Notice has ever been required for the prospecting that we do, and there is no difference between Notice and an explanation, my own answer when asked what I am doing will be something along with the following: “I am recovering very small samples for the purpose of analysis. No further explanation is necessary under USFS regulations. You are welcome to observe the surface impact for yourself.” This would be cooperation to the fullest extent of the regulations. Anything more is likely to be used against you in today’s America.

As long as you stay within our Operation Guidelines, I personally see no reason why the USFS should take very much interest in you. They never have before! Having said that, I also want to point out that our adversaries are putting a lot of pressure on USFS authorities to stop us. These poor USFS guys are caught in the middle. They must follow up on complaints that are lodged. So you should plan on them stopping by to see what you are doing. My advice is, rather than explain your methods and processes, you welcome them to see for themselves what your surface impact is. I hope you guys are listening to this.

If you are approached by any authority, please be careful to ask politely for the person’s name in writing, the department of government he or she works for and a phone number where the person can be reached. Maybe the person has a business card. I suggest you immediately stop ongoing prospecting activity the first time any official visits you and contact our office with the details. I would be busy reclaiming any visual impact from my activity while making small talk with the person. Our Internal Affairs staff will be happy to help you to sort it out, though there is little they can do if you do not have contact details.

We have added two Deputies to our Internal Affairs team this season largely for the purpose of assisting you guys through these affairs.

One very important note: There is not a lot we can do to help you if you create a visible surface impact that the Ranger might consider “significant.” Please fill in your excavations behind you as you make them. This is all outlined in our Operation Guidelines.

The Season is Starting Early this Year!

The days in Happy Camp have mostly been warm and sunny for the past two months. The Klamath River has already warmed up to near 60 degrees. Annual flow charts show the river is running lower, two months ahead of the last two years. My own guess is that we are going to have a low-water year on the river. This makes for easier mining and more access to otherwise difficult areas – where Mother Nature hides many of her richest treasures.

A bunch of members were comparing different types of gold concentrating equipment in front of our headquarters this past Friday afternoon.

Increased excitement is also bringing members around earlier than we have seen in many years. Some members are already mining and prospecting. There is a wonderful sense of motivation and quiet determinism in the air that I have not witnessed along the Klamath River since the mid-90’s. Members are coming together on their own to do equipment demonstrations at the office for everyone to see. Things are lining up in Happy Camp like we are going to have a great season!

Schedule of Weekend Projects for 2013

All members are invited to attend our weekend Group Mining Projects and keep an equal share of the gold that we recover. Here are our planned events for the upcoming season: June 1 & 2; June 22 & 23; July 13 & 14; August 3 & 4; August 24 & 25.

Opposition to Oregon Senate Bills 838 and 401!

Several anti-mining bills have already been passed through the first (of two) important committees, and are now fast-tracking through the Oregon State Senate. If these destructive bills are passed into law, it will put a complete end to suction dredging and all other forms of motorized gold mining within a quarter-mile of all or most waterways in the entire State of Oregon!

These bills are being pushed by anti-mining activists who want to eliminate the last remaining productive economic activity on America’s public lands.

Just at the time when we have figured out how to do some underwater suction mining in California, this is not the time for us to lose all of Oregon!

If we do not all pull together and kill these bills right now, we will find ourselves devoting years trying to overcome them through expensive litigation. We must flood the Oregon senate with very vocal opposition right now!

Giving Away Dave Mack’s Gold Nuggets!

Twenty-five prizes in all

Grand Prize: 1-Ounce of Dave’s Gold Nuggets

Four ¼-Ounce Bags of Dave’s Gold Nuggets

Twenty 1-Pennyweight Bags of Dave’s Gold Nuggets

This drawing will take place at our weekly potluck in Happy Camp on Saturday evening, 13 July 2013. You do not need to be a member of our organization to participate. You do not need to be present to win. There is no limit to the size or frequency of your contributions, or to the number of prizes you can win.

Our office will automatically generate a ticket in your name for every $10 legal contribution we receive ($100 would generate 10 tickets, etc). There is no limit to the size or frequency of your contributions, or to the number of prizes you can win.

Legal contributions can be arranged by calling (530) 493-2012, by mailing to The New 49′ers, P.O. Box47, Happy Camp, CA 96039, or you can do it online by clicking here:

More Announcements

K-14A at Portuguese Creek is Lost: I’m sorry to say that all the excitement I expressed in last month’s newsletter about our acquiring a new claim on the Klamath (K-14A) downstream of Portuguese Creek was for nothing.

We have been notified by the person who sold us the claim that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has allowed West End Prospectors to recover from a mistake which BLM had listed as final in their files. There is nothing we can do to reverse this.

It was never our intention to take the property away from West End. BLM records confirmed the property was available. We assumed they dropped it. We wanted to buy the property before someone else did.

The several members who were actively working the claim have been notified, and have since joined up with West End so they can remain there. West End has a Membership Drive going for $145 in case anyone is interested.

Our signs have been removed, and we have taken the property off our claims guides. I’m sorry about this, you guys. Fortunately it doesn’t happen very often.

We are adding Google Earth kmz links to the Claims Guide: Founding member, Mark Chestnut, has been investing a lot of time to placing our claims into interactive Google Earth links which will allow you to move around the properties from a bird’s eye view. We have now posted all these links on the Lower Klamath River properties beginning with K-20, and extending through all of our existing properties downstream, Mark has also created a file that will allow you to look at all of our properties along the lower Klamath. This makes for an excellent prospecting tool. We hope to have kmz links in place for all of our existing properties by the next newsletter. Check it out!

To view the content from these .kmz links you will need to have Google Earth installed on your computer.Download Google Earth

Services for Bill Stumpf: Many of you know that Bill Stumpf passed away several months ago. Bill was a founding member who helped manage The New 49’ers all the way through the 90’s. As our daily tour guide, Bill took untold hundreds of beginners out, taught them to pan, and helped them find their first gold. He ran the weekend group mining projects for many years. Both of Bill’s sons also lived in Happy Camp and operated a commercial dredging program for many years on New 49’er properties. Bill played a big part in helping our program get a strong footing. He had a lot of friends from all over the world. Bill was a strong supporter of our organization all the way to the end.

As the Klamath River was one of Bill’s favorite places, his family has scheduled informal services on Bill’s behalf to take place at the Grange Hall in Happy Camp at 2 PM on 25 May. This will be a pot-luck get-together in honor of Bill. Everyone who knew him, or even those of you who wish that you knew him, are invited to attend. Bill’s wife Jan will be there, along with his sons and their families.

No Potluck on June 8: The Grange Hall is pre-booked for another event on Saturday on June 8. Otherwise, we have booked the Hall for all of our other Saturday evening potlucks this coming season from 1 June through August 24.

Sign up for the Free Internet Version of this Newsletter

We strongly encourage you to sign up for the free on line version of this newsletter. The Internet version is better. This is because you can immediately click directly to many of the subjects which we discuss; because the on line version is in full color; because we link you directly to locations through GPS and Google Earth technology; and because you can watch the free video segments which we incorporate into our stories.

Signing up also places you on our Political Action Team. Things happen so fast these days; it takes too long to organize political action through the U.S. mail. As an example, just two years ago, in concert with other mining organizations, our Internet Action Team killed anti-mining legislation in Oregon in less than a week. It is a near guarantee that we will be calling for another industry-wide action to defeat this new legislation being proposed in Oregon before you even see another of these newsletters. All of these future battles will be organized over the Internet since it is so much faster. Please join us in the battle to maintain our remaining freedoms!

We are still on a roll, you guys! After waiting 28 years, we have finally acquired the 1.25-mile stretch of Klamath River which connects to the downstream end of our K-14 property. This will now provide us with a three-mile stretch of river extending from just up from the mouth of Fort Goff Creek all the way to the downstream side of Seiad.

This was one of the original mining properties I acquired when I first arrived on the Klamath back in 1984. A representative of the West End Prospector’s Club (Los Angeles area) had asked me during 1985 if I would sell them a claim that would provide good river access, plenty of camping, and easy access to gold. This property was ideally-suited for a mining association. I was having second thoughts about selling the property, because I was having early thoughts about starting a mining association to be based in Happy Camp. Since the guy traveled all the way to Happy Camp to buy the property, I set my personal reservations aside and went through with the deal. But I have regretted selling that claim since the day I did it.

We started The New 49’ers a few months later, doing our first promotional event in Quartzsite, Arizona in January of 1986. Shortly afterwards, several of our members made a very rich gold strike on the lower end of K-14, just upstream of the property I sold to West End. Our members were recovering lots of beautiful gold nuggets off of shallow bedrock on the Highway 96 side of the river. There was a small gold rush in there, and it wasn’t long before the Stumpf brothers located a rich pay-streak further out in the river. As far as I know, none of our members ever crossed the boundary line and pursued the continuation of those gold deposits onto the West End side. We can do that now!

Our K-13 and K-14 properties just upstream have been excellent gold producers in the surface deposits. We ran successful weekend high-banking projects on both of those properties for many years. I know the gold continues down across this new property, because some of the West End guys used to attend our weekly potlucks. They confided in me that they were recovering good gold both in and outside of the river. The problem most of those guys were experiencing was the great distance they had to travel to arrive at this property. Most of them were working jobs, so they could not spend much time along the Klamath River. In fact, it was just a few West-enders that we ever saw on the extensive property.

The downstream boundary marker of this new property can be found near mile marker 56.10, just upstream from the USFS Campground at FortGoff. This is an excellent (free) campground that includes picnic tables, BBQ pits and a toilet. My guess is that USFS will enforce a 2-week camping limit inside one of their own official campgrounds.

About a half-mile upstream on Highway 96 at mile marker 56.68, you will find an official USFS Portuguese Creek River Access. There are also some camping areas available there, along with an excellent boat ramp for launching gear into the river. Walking upstream just a short distance will bring you to some exposed and shallow bedrock along an extensive bar that extends the better part of a mile along the Highway-96 side of the river. I’m guessing this is going to provide our members with excellent surface mining opportunities for many years to come. Don’t be surprised if you find us doing the weekend group projects in this area. This entire 1-mile stretch has bedrock showing here and there as it slopes into shallow river. This will be a good place to pursue our new methods of underwater crevice mining.

There is also an extensive bar on the far side of the river towards the lower end of the property. It would be hard to miss the very rough and irregular portions of exposed bedrock that are slanting into the river there (See image above). Since we had substantial success a mile upstream both in and out of the river on K-14, and more substantial success both in and out of the river on K-15A about a mile downstream, I estimate it is about a 100% chance we will have great success in finding what we are looking for over there, as well. In all the time I have been on the river, I have never seen anyone prospecting the far side of the river on this property.
One thing you notice on this new claim, more than in other areas along the river, is the workings left behind by extensive historical mining. There are piles of rocks everywhere, along with the skeletons of ancient streambed deposits which were too hard for the old-timers to work.

The upper end of this new property provides even more shaded camping. There is an old road up there that extends all the way down to the river near the upper end of the property. The road is blocked to full sized vehicle travel at the moment. ATV’s might make good use of the road.

To my knowledge, very little mining activity has taken place on this property. We have been waiting patiently to reacquire the long stretch of river for a very long time. Now we have it!

Opposition to Oregon Senate Bills 838 and 401!

Several anti-mining bills are now fast-tracking through the Oregon State Senate. If these destructive bills are passed into law, it will put a complete end to suction dredging and all other forms of motorized gold mining within a quarter-mile of all or most waterways in the entire State of Oregon!
These bills are being pushed by anti-mining activists who want to eliminate the last remaining productive economic activity on America’s public lands.

Just at the time when we have figured out how to do some underwater suction mining in California, this is not the time for us to lose all of Oregon!

If we do not all pull together and kill these bills right now, we will find ourselves devoting years trying to overcome them through expensive litigation. We must flood the Oregon senate with very vocal opposition right now!

Schedule of Weekend Projects for 2013

All members are invited to attend our weekend Group Mining Projects and keep an equal share of the gold that we recover. Here are our planned events for the upcoming season: June 1 & 2; June 22 & 23; July 13 & 14; August 3 & 4; August 24 & 25.

U.S. Supreme Court will not Take up our Petition

The U.S. Supreme Court chose to not accept our Petition to overturn a recent Ninth Circuit Decision which directs the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to pursue an endangered species (ESA) consultation before allowing mining under a Notice of Intent (NOI). In case you didn’t know, USFS had opposed our Petition to the Supreme Court based upon the argument that the Ninth Circuit’s Decision did not really change anything important in the way they do business.

Now that the Ninth’s Decision is final, the focus will turn to the way USFS does business concerning small-scale mining and prospecting on the public lands. Early on, a suggestion was originated by anti-mining activists that any use of a motor on the public lands would now require an ESA consultation. We do not believe there is any merit to that idea. That suggestion seems to have quieted down for the moment. But I will not be surprised if our enemies file another lawsuit to challenge the way USFS does business concerning small-scale mining. This is the way our enemies do it. Step by step, they attempt to chip away at our freedoms and opportunities.

Being that there is some ongoing confusion over what existing USFS regulations are concerning small-scale mining activity on the public lands, I asked our attorney to provide us with a summary of the important points, particularly on the subject of operating small motors.

Here is the Memo. The purpose of the Memo is to provide you with an accurate explanation that you can rely upon. If there is anything you are uncertain about, please make contact with our Director of Internal Affairs. He can be found on our Contact page.

Here it is as I understand it: The mining laws allow all Americans free access on the public lands for the purpose of prospecting. There is no requirement of making contact, getting permission or giving notice (NOI) to any authorities until such time that we believe our activities will create a significant surface impact.

We are only requested to file a Notice of Intent (NOI) with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) if we believe our prospecting may create a significant impact. Filing an NOI is not a requirement. There is no penalty for not filing an NOI.

Once (if) an NOI was filed, the USFS Ranger used to go through an internal process to assess if what we were doing was likely to create a significant surface impact. Now the Ninth Circuit has decided the Ranger will be required to consult with other agencies to perform this assessment. That is likely to involve more time.

In thirty years on the Klamath National Forest, the Happy Camp, Scott and Upper Salmon River Rangers have never once considered that The New 49’ers, even as a whole group, were likely to create a significant surface impact. Therefore, as an individual, I don’t know why anyone doing small-scale prospecting would believe an NOI would be necessary.

As long as you stay within our Operation Guidelines, I personally see no reason why the USFS should take any interest in you at all. They never have before! If you are approached by any authorities, please be careful to ask politely for the person’s name in writing, the department of government he or she works for, and a phone number where the person can be reached. Maybe the person has a business card. If you contact our office with those details, our Internal Affairs staff will be happy to help you to sort it out.

The Season is Starting Early this Year!

We have an early spring in progress this year. The days have mostly been warm and sunny for the past month. Leaves are budding out on many trees. Flowers are popping out of the ground everywhere. Water in the Klamath has warmed up into the low 50’s already. It is running a bit high from snow runoff. Visibility is about three feet as I write this, though it changes from day to day. My own guess is that with so much of the water running off early, we are likely to have a low-water year on the river. This makes for easier mining and more access to otherwise difficult areas – where Mother Nature hides many of her richest treasures.

Increased excitement is also bringing members around earlier than we have seen in many years. Some members are already mining and prospecting. I was posting signs on all the new properties just a few days ago and came upon three members who were using a wheeled cart to move an underwater suction machine into place towards the upper end of our new K-24A property. There was a sense of motivation and quiet determinism in those guys that I have not witnessed along the Klamath River since the 90’s. I’m seeing that same kind of personal determinism in others who are in the office. It is wonderful! Things are lining up in Happy Camp like we are going to have a great season!

More Announcements

We are adding Google Earth .kmz links to the Claims Guide: Founding member, Mark Chestnut, has been investing a lot of time to placing our claims into interactive Google Earth links which allow you to move around the properties from a bird’s eye view. We have now posted all these links on the Lower Klamath River properties beginning with K-20, and extending through all of our properties downstream, Mark has also created a file that will allow you to look at all of our properties along the lower Klamath. Check it out! This makes for an excellent prospecting tool.

To view the content from these links you will need to have Google Earth installed on your computer.Download Google Earth

Services for Bill Stumpf: Many of you know that Bill Stumpf passed away several months ago. Bill was a founding member who helped manage The New 49’ers all the way through the 90’s. As our daily tour guide, Bill took untold hundreds of beginners out, taught them to pan, and helped them find their first gold. He ran the weekend group mining projects for many years. Both of Bill’s sons also lived in Happy Camp and operated a commercial dredging program on New 49’er properties for many years. Bill played a big part in helping our program get a strong footing. He had a lot of friends from all over the world. Bill was a strong supporter of our organization all the way to the end.

As this was one of Bill’s favorite places, his family has scheduled informal services on Bill’s behalf to take place at the Grange Hall in Happy Camp at 2 PM on 25 May. This will be a pot-luck get-together in honor of Bill. Everyone who knew him, or even those of you who wish that you knew him, are invited to attend. Bill’s wife Jan will be there, along with his sons and their families.

No Potluck on June 8: The Grange Hall is pre-booked for another event on Saturday on June 8. Otherwise, we have booked the Hall for all of our other Saturday evening potlucks this coming season from 1 June through August 24.

Sign up for the Free Internet Version of this Newsletter

We strongly encourage you to sign up for the free on line version of this newsletter. The Internet version is better, because you can immediately click directly to many of the subjects which we discuss; because the on line version is in full color; because we link you directly to locations through GPS and Google Earth technology; and because you can watch the free video segments which we incorporate into our stories.

Signing up also places you on our Political Action Team. Things happen so fast these days; it takes too long to organize political action through the U.S. mail. As an example, just two years ago, in concert with other mining organizations, our Internet Action Team killed anti-mining legislation in Oregon in less than a week. It is a near guarantee that we will be calling for another industry-wide action to defeat this new legislation being proposed in Oregon before you even see another of these newsletters. All of these future battles will be organized over the Internet since it is so much faster. Please join us in the battle to maintain our remaining freedoms!

Note from Dave: This short story was sent to me by one of our longtime members who is so excited about this new underwater suction mining concept we have come up with, that he started working out a gravel transfer system in February, and is already recovering a substantial amount of gold, especially while being hampered by cold water. Oh my; it is starting already!

Since coming out with this new idea, I have received queries from people about what our Club rules are regarding underwater suction mining along our extensive properties. So we have published a set of Special Underwater Suction Mining Guidelines further below. My answer is that as long as your device does not meet the regulatory definition of a “suction dredge” (motorized suction through a hose into a sluice box), and you stay within our simple guidelines, you are more than welcome to come with your inventions and keep all the gold you can find!

I know people are working on different ideas. I have an idea of my own and am expecting to have my most productive underwater mining season ever on the Klamath River this summer. It’s certainly going to be an interesting season! You guys (and gals) are all invited. Montine in our office will work it out with nearly anyone to become a member of The New 49’ers. Please call her at 530 493-2012.

Having said that, I thought you might be interested to know that we already have members getting started. Here is John’s personal story:

Suction Mining Has Already Started on the Klamath River!

Field Report from John Rose: This device was meant to be as simple and economical as possible, and something that I could use without a partner. It began as just a crude system I put together to see if my idea would even work. Basically it is just a larger milk crate with most of one end cut out and a 1 1/2″ crash box mounted on top with a grizzly and some inner tube attached. I added the crash box and inner tube to try and cut down on the boiling of the water going into the bucket. It seems to work okay with just one person so long as I go slow and watch not to fill the bucket too full.

I started with some diamond-shaped screen to use as a grizzly but I am constantly removing rocks from the screen. This subtracts from the work I’m getting done at the nozzle. So I will next experiment with some round splines to see if they allow oversized rocks to slide off better.

I am using a 5-gallon square bucket that slides perfectly into the milk crate when stood on end. I found that adding some rubber on the sides of the splash box down to the grizzly helps to direct the material onto the grizzly then into the bucket without loosing very much smaller material.

The water was very cold when I began this experiment in February. Now that we are into March, I am able to put my hands into it without gloves, which was not the case just a few weeks ago. I am mining along this section of exposed bedrock that slopes out into the river. The river fluctuates higher and faster, and then drops again, depending upon how much rain we get. I’ll be able to do better once the water warms up even more and I can reach out further into the river.

I am only using a 2.5 horsepower pump and mini suction nozzle. It has plenty of power when I submerge the catch container out in deeper water. This is difficult to do at the moment because water currents can capsize my catch container and take away all the fruits of my labor.

The biggest cost to my “thingamajig” was the $80 crash box. The rest was just scrap that I scrounged from around the shop. I will leave my thingamajig down at the New 49’er office when I’m not using it so people can look at it as they come in. Montine says she will begin stocking crash boxes and other items so other prospectors can make up similar gravel transfer systems.

Here is a video segment which shows me testing out the system in the creek just down from where I am camping:

The good news is that I recovered 3.4 pennyweights of nice gold (about $250) during my first week, which is not bad considering I devoted a lot of time doing modifications. I know I lost some gold from too much water boiling in my initial bucket – which was shorter. The cold water is also limiting what I can get done. So with some more fine tuning I think this system might really do the trick!

We Have Acquired Another Rich Klamath River Gold Property!

We are on a roll, you guys! At long last, we have acquired the 1.7 mile stretch of Klamath River which connects our Coons Creek and Cottage Grove Properties. This is approximately twenty miles downriver from Happy Camp. This will now provide us with a continuous stretch of river in that location which is more than 3.3 miles long.

This is another area of the river where I personally have some early history dating back to 1984. In fact, this is the first place that I put a dredge into the Klamath River. I had five or six of my very first students with me, and I was going to show them how to sample. We started in an area just downstream of the huge bar on the upper half of the claim (towards the upper end of the river in the image above). Digging a small hole on the edge of the river exposed cemented gravel inside of a bedrock crack. It took us a while; but we picked the hard material out of the crack and found nuggets and chips of gold on the bedrock. But the going was very slow, so we turned our attention to the river.

Floating my 5-inch dredge just out into the river, we started a sample hole between the stream bank and a section of faster water. I was used to the much smaller and tamer Trinity River; and frankly, I remember being overwhelmed by the size, depth and ferocity of the Klamath. The boulders were larger than I was used to; there seemed to be no bottom to the streambed material, and the river was so wide compared to what I was used to, it felt like we were just an ineffective needle in a haystack. There was also a nagging feeling in me that there was not going to be much gold in the Klamath River. We didn’t have enough experience there to know any better, yet.

The key moment was when I considered pushing on out to the edge of the fast water towards the middle of the river. I crawled out there underwater and took a look. The water was faster and deeper out there, but I could have done the sample, and it looked like I could get to bedrock in that place. I remember deciding there was not going to be any gold out there. These are the exact decisions we make that change our fate forever! Had I done that sample, I cannot even imagine how differently the world would have gone. In fact, I might not even be writing this newsletter right now! This was a good lesson, amongst many others I experienced over the years, why it is better to not give up hope too quickly.

One of my students offered to buy the claim. He was excited that we found gold nuggets so easily under the cemented gravel along the edge of the river. It was actually a group of ten claims. Having acquired plenty of other property along the Klamath, and always in need of financial capital, I decided to sell him that stretch of river. That guy was a good student! After he finished my class, he went out and dredged the sample I neglected to do further out in the river. That is exactly where he struck it rich within the first hour! He ultimately dredged hundreds of ounces of gold from that single location! Selling those claims was something I have regretted doing ever since.

Unfortunately, my ex-student died of a heart attack shortly thereafter. The property has been held in private hands ever since. The owners have refused to allow any outsiders access to the property. To my knowledge, no mining or prospecting has been done on this very extensive property beyond the original strike. I have been waiting patiently to reacquire the long stretch of river for the past 30 years. Now we have it!

Besides the extensive underwater suction mining opportunity remaining on this property, there is also enough surface mining potential on both sides of the river to keep our members busy for the rest of our lives. This is a huge property! There are extensive ancient hydraulic workings on the far side of the river which take up the lower half of the property. There may be some really good electronic prospecting opportunity over there!

This is another property where there are very large roadside pull-offs for camping and parking. Access poses a bit of a challenge because Highway 96 is elevated above the river for some distance along the claim. It is a bit easier up towards the private property. There is an access road towards the bottom of the claim that will get you most of the way to the river.

Important note: The upper portion of the river area on this property is landlocked by private property. Our mining claim takes in the river which flows around the private property. This is shown in this diagram on Google Earth. There is some kind of private fee camping area there that we don’t know anything about. You may be able to work something out with the owners. Otherwise, the upper portion of the claim will only be accessible by boat.

Special Rules for Underwater Suction Mining

We explained the need for these Rules on our Internet forum. So I won’t go into it again here.

1) Suction mining in the active waterway, or within 100 yards of the active waterway, must not use a “suction dredge” as defined by California’s regulations (motorized pump generating suction through a hose to feed a sluice box) unless the operator possesses a valid California suction dredge permit. Read this for a more thorough discussion of the difference between a “dredge” and a motorized suction system.

2) No suction nozzle with an intake restriction ring larger than 4-inches in diameter may be used within 100 yards of an active waterway on New 49’er-controlled properties.

3) No excavation into the stream bank of an active waterway is allowed. Bedrock cracks along the edge of a waterway can be worked. But the bed material (rocks, sand and silt) which rises up from the bedrock and creates a structure that holds the waterway in its path must be left alone. This means the stream bank may not be undermined or destabilized in any way.

4) Boulders and woody debris along the stream bank of an active waterway must be left alone.

5) Underwater suction mining without the use of a “dredge” is only allowed on our Klamath River properties between the Scott and Salmon Rivers on a year-round basis, and only up the Klamath from its confluence with the Scott only from the 4th Saturday in May through September 30. Underwater suction mining is only permitted along our creek properties and the Scott River only from July 1 to September 30. Underwater suction mining is only permitted on the Salmon River only from July 1 through September 15.

6) Underwater suction mining may not be pursued in any way that violates Water Quality standards, or exceeds Streambed Alteration standards. These are addressed in our Surface Mining Guidelines.

Legal Fund Prize Winners

We did the drawing for our most recent legal fundraiser at our offices in Happy Camp at the close of business on 7 March. Ray Arnsen drew all the tickets. He is not a member and not related to any of this. The winners of the are as follows:

One-ounce American Gold Eagle: Fred Rehfield

Quarter-ounce American Gold Eagles: John Moir, Terry White, Dorothy Leet and William Tipton

Congratulations to all of the winners and thank you very much to everyone who participated. I want to especially acknowledge the substantial response to my calls during the final week before the drawing. It makes me very proud to know we have so many loyal supporters out there. It also prompts me to come up with more of my personal gold nuggets for the next fund-raiser!

Any contributions received afterwards will have automatically been issued tickets in our next fund-raiser.

Giving Away Dave Mack’s Gold Nuggets!

Since it generated so much participation last time, I am allowing three more ounces of my personal gold nuggets to be used as prizes in this new fund-raiser!

The drawing will take place at our weekly potluck in Happy Camp on Saturday evening, 13 July 2013. You do not need to be a member of our organization to participate. You do not need to be present to win. There is no limit to the size or frequency of your contributions, or to the number of prizes you can win.

Legal contributions can be arranged by calling (530) 493-2012, by mailing to The New 49′ers, P.O. Box 47, Happy Camp, CA 96039, or online by clicking Here.

We greatly appreciate your support in these fundraisers!

Opposition to Oregon Senate Bills 115, 370 and 401!

Several anti-mining bills are now progressing through the Oregon State Senate. If these destructive bills are passed into law, it will put a complete end to suction dredging and all other forms of motorized gold mining in the entire State of Oregon!

These bills are being pushed by anti-mining activists who want to eliminate the last remaining productive economic activity on America’s public lands.

Just at the time when we have figured out how to do some underwater suction mining in California, this is not the time for us to lose all of Oregon!

If we do not all pull together and kill these bills right now, we will find ourselves devoting years and years trying to overcome them through expensive litigation. We must flood the Oregon senate with very vocal opposition right now!

2013 Group Insurance Policy

All Members are eligible to sign up for $10,000 of accidental medical Insurance which covers you while prospecting for gold, and also during any activities which we sponsor. Dental accidents are included, along with $2,500 for accidental death or dismemberment. The policy has a $100 deductible. It is an annual policy which extends through January of 2014. This insurance is available for $30 per year, per person. More information can be found here

Schedule of Weekend Projects for 2013

All members are invited to attend our weekend Group Mining Projects and keep an equal share of the gold that we recover. Here are our planned events for the upcoming season: June 1 & 2; June 22 & 23; July 13 & 14; August 3 & 4; August 24 & 25.

Please Join Me on Facebook and Twitter!

With the launch of Extreme Prospector, I have started up a blog which broadens the context to ongoing adventures and other important news and issues that we are all facing today. These include discussion and links to informative information about the economic realities of our time. Important stuff!

My latest blog released the news about the success John Rose is having with this new motorized underwater suction mining concept weeks before you are seeing it in this newsletter. I provide updates in the blog as soon as I am aware of them.

If you are interested in up-to-date news, along with stories about extreme prospecting adventures (not just mine), I invite you to visit my Facebook page at facebook/DaveMackExtreme and follow me on Twitter@DaveMackExtreme. There is a “Free eBook” tab on my Facebook page where you can download Chapter 10 of Extreme Prospector.

I hope a bunch of you guys and gals will join me up there and encourage all of you to join in the discussion and “Like” my page to share with your friends.

Lost Treasure Hunters on Youtube!

For any of you guys who missed our first episode of Lost Treasure Hunters on Animal Planet, it is now playing on Youtube. Check it out!

Sign up for the Free Internet Version of this Newsletter

We strongly encourage you to sign up for the free on line version of this newsletter. The Internet version is better, because you can immediately click directly to many of the subjects which we discuss; because the on line version is in full color; because we link you directly to locations through GPS and Google Earth technology; and because you can watch the free video segments which we incorporate into our stories.

Signing up also places you on our Political Action Team. Things happen so fast these days; it takes too long to organize political action through the U.S. mail. As an example, just two years ago, in concert with other mining organizations, our Internet Action Team killed anti-mining legislation in Oregon in less than a week. It is a near guarantee that we will be calling for another industry-wide action to defeat this new legislation being proposed in Oregon before you even see another of these newsletters. All of these future battles will be organized over the Internet since it is so much faster. Please join us in the battle to maintain our remaining freedoms!

Story by Jim Yerby

Alan Mash and I had been biting at the bit to go have a look as soon as I heard that our new mining property near Independence Creek is the richest mile of the Klamath River. We live in Medford, Oregon, normally only about two hours away. But it had been a cold, wet January in northern California and southern Oregon. Alan and I were prepared to dig through a little snow to get to the pay-dirt; but doing it in the pouring rain didn’t sound like that much fun. So we patiently watched the weather forecasts on the Internet and waited for the first good chance.

Because of our close friendship and their substantial prospecting experience, we invited two other New 49’er adventure buddies to come along by the time the weather cleared. Bob Johnson has been prospecting for gold so long; he actually put himself through college by dredging for gold during the summer months. James McCarville also was part of this team. Everybody knows that James dredged up a 4-ounce gold nugget on the Rogue River this past season, the largest on record, I believe. We decided to make full a day of it. Prospecting guru, Alan Mash, brought his cameras along and is responsible for the images and video segments in this month’s newsletter.

Since we were going down for a look, Dave Mack asked if we would capture some images and video of an additional (exciting) new mining property The New 49’ers just acquired around nine miles downstream from Happy Camp (see below). Dave also wanted images of two other extensive properties that we are not even allowed to talk about, yet. We got that bit of business out of the way before turning our attention onto the new property at Independence.

The Klamath is running a little high at the moment, though the water is quite clear. I had my hands in it while doing some panning. It’s cold; but I’m not sure that it is much colder than the warmest the Rogue River in Southern Oregon ever gets during the summer months. The Klamath is only going to get easier to mine as we evolve into the spring months just ahead. Makes me excited just to think about it!

As long as we were going to the property, Dave asked us to cross the bridge near the upper end, cross Independence Creek, and walk downstream until we could find some bedrock alongside the Klamath River. He wanted us to do a pan sample or two. This was just a formality; because everyone with any experience along the Klamath knows the Independence Mining District is super rich.

Getting across Independence Creek was easier than I anticipated. It was only flowing about 18-inches deep in the pools. It was just a few inches deep down near the mouth of the Creek. We ran across four other New 49’er members in just the short time we were on the claim. This did not surprise us, because Montine in the office told me there has been a lot of interest in this new property. She said some members were out there sampling through the snow, even while it was raining. Well, we almost did that, too!

But I’m really glad we waited. We could not have picked a better day. The sun was out and the Klamath River canyon was at its best. We sure are lucky to live in an outdoor wonderland!

Bob turned up a pretty good pan out of a sample hole that someone else had already started in an open crack in the exposed bedrock. At first, I thought he was just fooling around when he said he uncovered a piece of gold sitting right of top of some brown-colored material. But I went over to look; and sure enough, there was a piece of gold just sitting there! Leave it to Bob to make the first strike. First strike is that very moment when everyone’s emotional juices get fired up! There are few other experiences in life quite like it. It is something like that moment of disbelief when you hit the jackpot on a slot machine. But it is better, because in gold prospecting, we are finding raw wealth!

We paused for a moment, finding it pretty amazing that piece of gold was visible in a place where someone else had already been digging. It made us wonder what the earlier prospector found that prompted him to leave in such a hurry. Here follows Bob’s explanation:

James and Alan also made a preliminary strike further up the bar. They were digging through about a foot of streambed sitting right on top of bedrock. By the looks of it, bedrock is going to be easy to find down near the river, and especially out into the river. The following video sequence captures James and Alan explaining their sampling program and showing off some of the gold.

While those guys were sampling, I walked further downstream along the bank to get a better look at the shallow part of the river. That’s really the reason I went down there in the first place. My own interest is in the underwater crevicing opportunities on this new property. I’d like to get out beyond the reach of where the average surface miner can go.

I could see plenty of irregular and jagged bedrock extending quite a ways out into the river, and then drop off into deeper water. The exposed bedrock has the very same kinds of open cracks and traps like what Bob was digging out on the surface. I dream about the gold that might be in those very same cracks out there under the water! It looks to me like there is an unlimited opportunity to do shallow underwater crevicing on this property using this new method of motorized underwater suction gravel transfer that Dave Mack outlined in last month’s newsletter.

Looking over the new property from the Highway 96 side of the river, it appears that there is a full mile of shallow bedrock on the north side of this claim. And for that matter, the shallow bedrock just continues right on down the north side on our adjoining K-25 property just downstream! I don’t believe anyone has done any underwater crevicing down that way, either. This whole idea of sucking out underwater cracks in exposed bedrock is brand new. Frankly, I’m surprised we never thought of it before!

I’m so excited; I can hardly stand to wait until spring to get started!

The thing to keep in mind is that all four of us on this particular sampling team have always been serious underwater gold miners. We were all dredging on the Klamath until the moratorium in California came about three seasons ago. Then we moved north to Oregon; all the while, itching to get back onto the Klamath. What makes the Klamath so interesting is that the high-grade deposits can actually fill up jars of gold once you tap into them!

While we agreed to do a few pan samples for Dave Mack, we were really down there to survey the more serious opportunities which remain below the water’s surface.

Dave confided in me that with the history he knows about this new property, along with this new method of motorized underwater gravel transfer, he believes there is a strong chance that he can recover more gold this coming season than during any other season in his career. All you have to do is read his new book to know that Dave doesn’t joke around about this sort of thing. In fact, when it comes to mining, he is the most serious and dedicated guy I know. Because of Dave’s other responsibilities, he only gets to mine part time. So, in my mind, Dave must know where there is an awfully rich stretch of river on this new property! He is staying tight-lipped about where he intends to begin the upcoming season.

I admit that we spent a lot of time looking over the river to see if there was an obvious location where Dave Mack plans to start. The problem is that a mile takes in a lot of river! There is a lot of diversity on this property, fast and slow areas, along a continuous, slow bend which should put the richest gold line between the center of the river and the north side. While we picked out plenty of places we would like to sample inside the river, I have to say that this entire property looks fantastic!

We finally gave up on trying to figure out where Dave Mack’s secret spot is. I guess we will just have to wait and see! I have already volunteered to help him launch his gear when the time comes…

We Have Acquired Another Exciting High-banking and Crevicing Property Along the Klamath!

More good news, you guys! We have acquired another excellent mining property along the Klamath River 9.3 miles downstream from Happy Camp. This is another area we have had our eyes on for many years, mainly because of the extensive stretches of exposed bedrock and high-banking opportunity on the far side of the river. There is also a sizable pull-off area along the side of Highway 96 for parking and camping directly on the property.

Click Image for Larger View

This is a rich mining property which has been held in private hands since before I arrived on the Klamath River in 1984. The owners did not allow anyone to mining on the property, save for one old-timer that has been camping in the roadside pull-off, paddling a canoe over the far side of the river, and digging the gold out of exposed bedrock cracks every summer since at least 1984.

Now I am happy to say that the ¾-mile property belongs to us. It will be logged on our Claims Guide as A & D #3 Gold Claim (K-23AA) as soon as we can get it up there.This property is not far upstream from our Wingate Property (K-23A), and we all know how good that has been for us, especially on the far side of the river! Here it is on Google Earth.

If you are planning to work this property, I suggest bringing a small boat, perhaps with a small motor. The best gold deposits will likely be found on the far side of the river.

Schedule of Weekend Projects for 2013

All members are invited to attend our weekend Group Mining Projects and keep an equal share of the gold that we recover. Here are our planned events for the upcoming 2013 season: June 1 & 2; June 22 & 23; July 13 & 14; August 3 & 4; August 24 & 25.

New Anti-Mining Legislation Introduced in Oregon

Oregon Senator Bates (Ashland-Medford District) and others have submitted several anti-mining bills to the Oregon legislature. If these destructive bills are passed into law, it will put a complete end to suction dredge and all other forms of motorized gold mining in the entire State of Oregon!

These bills are being pushed by anti-mining activists who want to eliminate the last remaining productive economic activity on America’s public lands.

Just at the time when we have figured out how to do some underwater suction mining in California, this is not the time for us to lose all of Oregon!

If we do not all pull together and kill these bills right now, we will find ourselves devoting years and years trying to overcome them through expensive litigation. We must flood the Oregon senate with very vocal opposition right now!

Progress in the Legal Arena

As many of you are aware, all of the civil litigation surrounding the California suction dredge moratorium has been transferred to San Bernardino County. This was a big win for our side, because we did not believe we were getting an impartial hearing in Alameda County. The multiple cases surrounding the existing moratorium create a complex set of issues. But they are all inferior to our Supremacy claim – which basically argues that the State of California does not have the authority to prohibit mining on the public lands. There therefore is a strong possibility that the judge may resolve the Supremacy issue as a first priority. If we win on this issue, there is a reasonable chance that the entire moratorium and freeze on suction dredging in California will be tossed out. That would be really good for our side!

A similar Supremacy defense is being made in a completely separate case on behalf of a suction dredger who was criminally cited last season for suction dredging without a permit. On the one hand, the State passed a law that says we must have a permit to operate a suction dredge in California. And on the other hand, the State passed a law prohibiting the Department of Fish & Game from issuing any dredging permits. If that does not add up to a prohibition, I don’t know what does! There is some very persuasive case law from the Supreme Court which says that the State of California does not have authority to prohibit mining on the public lands. Since this is a criminal case, it may be resolved first. If it is resolved in the miner’s favor, there is reason to believe we will be able to suction dredge without permits until the State finally issues some reasonable regulations.

Since the State apparently is not able to make a reasonable argument against the Supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution, they have actually lowered themselves to an argument that the miner may not have a valid mining claim. Talking about trying to change the subject! I see this as a pretty good sign. All of this is moving towards a resolution pretty fast. We have been waiting for three years.

Meanwhile, as we wait for these important issues to be resolved, I remind you that we have figured out a way to do motorized underwater suction mining in a way that requires no permits and does not violate California’s moratorium on suction dredging.

Legal Fund Prize Drawing – Last Chance!

Here is a link to our legal fundraiser. We will be giving away 15 American Gold Eagles on 8 March 2013. That is only a month away, so this is your last chance!

Because we have given so much attention to our exciting new mining property acquisitions, and the new method of underwater mining, there has been almost zero participation in this latest legal fund-raiser. This is making me a little nervous, because it would be a disaster to bring in less money than the value of these beautiful gold coins!

You guys have always been there for us in the past, so I am hoping for some strong support this month.We greatly appreciate your support in these fundraisers!

2013 Group Insurance Policy

All Members are eligible to sign up for $10,000 of accidental medical Insurance which covers you while prospecting for gold, and also during any activities which we sponsor. Dental accidents are included, along with $2,500 for accidental death or dismemberment. The policy has a $100 deductible. It is an annual policy which extends through January of 2014. This insurance is available for $30 per year, per person. More information can be found here:

Lost Treasure Hunters on Youtube!

For any of you guys who missed our first episode of Lost Treasure Hunters on Animal Planet, it is now playing on youtube. Check it out!

Please Join Me on Facebook and Twitter!

With the launch of Extreme Prospector, I have started up a blog which broadens the context to ongoing adventures and other important news and issues that we are all facing today. These include discussion and links to informative information about the economic realities of our time. Important stuff!

If you are interested in up-to-date news, along with stories about extreme prospecting adventures (not just mine), I invite you to visit my Facebook pageat facebook/DaveMackExtreme and follow me on Twitter @DaveMackExtreme. There is a “Free eBook” tab on my Facebook page where you can download Chapter 10 of Extreme Prospector.

I hope a bunch of you guys and gals will join me up there and encourage all of you to join in the discussion and “Like” my page to share with your friends.

Sign up for the Free Internet Version of this Newsletter

We strongly encourage you to sign up for the free on line version of this newsletter. The Internet version is better, because you can immediately click directly to many of the subjects which we discuss; because the on line version is in full color; because we link you directly to locations through GPS and Google Earth technology; and because you can watch the free video segments which we incorporate into our stories.

Signing up also places you on our Political Action Team. Things happen so fast these days; it takes too long to organize political action through the U.S. mail. As an example, just two years ago, in concert with other mining organizations, our Internet Action Team killed anti-mining legislation in Oregon in less than a week. We are already putting out industry-wide Action Alerts to defeat this new legislation being proposed in Oregon. All of these future battles will be organized over the Internet since it is so much faster. Please join us in the battle to maintain our remaining freedoms!

This discussion began on our Internet Forum where I announced that we have recently acquired the richest dredging claim along the Klamath River near Happy Camp, which will also provide some fantastic surface and underwater crevicing opportunities because of the gentle slope of exposed bedrock which is extending off the side of the river where the gold path is located (more on the new claim below).

Motorized underwater suction mining in California without a “dredge!”

In my announcement, I pointed out that there is nothing in California’s dredging moratorium that prevents us from crevicing underwater using a motorized hookah air system, or even using a water pressure nozzle to help blow gravel out of cracks. The question I posed to our forum members is how to get the gold up and into a catch container without using a suction dredge.

It would be one thing if we were just uncovering an occasional gold nugget or two. We would simply free those up with some hand tools and pick them out with a set of tweezers. But I have seen crevices on this particular mining property that were loaded with a zillion pieces of gold, much of it in fines and flakes. You have to suck that up, or you will be there all year with a pair of tweezers! The original claim owners were recovering six and seven-ounce days (sometimes more) in places along this claim. They were only in there a few years before they retired. Since they operated an 8-inch dredge, they remained towards the lower end of the property where the water is deeper and slower. There is at least a half-mile stretch of faster, shallower water on the upper portion of the claim that, to my knowledge, has never even been sampled. This is the area I believe will make for good above and below water crevicing.

In response to my question, one of our more informed members and longtime supporter, Jim Foley, sent me a copy of the California Department of Fish & Game’s (DFG) current suction dredge regulations which clearly state that “A person is suction dredging as defined when all of the following components are working together: (A) a hose which vacuums sediment from a river stream or lake; and (B) A motorized pump; and (C) A sluice box.” The regulations further state, “Every person who operates the suction nozzle of any suction dredge shall have a suction dredge permit in his or her immediate possession.” These regulations were formally adopted in California on April 27, 2012.

The existing moratorium in California prevents DFG from issuing suction dredge permits. We are strenuously challenging the moratorium in several jurisdictions. Until our challenges are resolved, it is unlikely that we can operate suction dredges as defined by the regulations without being cited. Since most of us don’t want to be in trouble with the authorities, we have been doing our dredging in southern Oregon for the past few seasons.

But looking closer at the California regulations, there does remain a way for us to go down on the bottom of California’s waterways and suction up the shallower, higher-grade gravels. This is because, as defined by DFG’s own formal regulations, as long as we remove the sluice box from our motorized suction system, we are not operating a “suction dredge.” Said another way, there is an opportunity to use a motorized suction system to transfer high-grade gravel from one place in the river or creek to another location where the gravel can be more-easily processed in a separate system.

I am in possession of written communication from a high ranking DFG official, the very person who was in charge of developing the current regulations, which acknowledges that underwater suction-powered gravel transfer would not be considered “suction dredging” as long as the sluice box is removed from the system. He also cautioned that there are water quality concerns and also streambed alteration considerations. So there would be some limits involved. I’ll discuss these more in a minute.

For now, let’s just get back to my original discussion about using a hookah and motorized pumping system to expose and recover gold from very shallow deposits out in the river. I’m not talking about shallow water. I am talking about shallow streambed material on top of underwater gold deposits.

Here is just one of several ideas: Please see Figure A above. If I completely remove the sluice box from my 5-inch dredge, I am left with a floatation system which supports twin 6.5 HP Honda motors and pumps with a hookah compressor. I could use a single motor & pump with compressor to power a 3 or 4-inch Hydro-Force nozzle jet. This special nozzle will allow me the option to blow off lighter gravel to expose cobbles, which I can then move out of the way by hand, just like we do in dredging. This will allow me to work my way down to the pay-dirt without having to suck up any gravel. Once I expose the pay-dirt, a Hydro-Force nozzle will allow me to suck it up and transfer it over to a catch container in shallower, slower water which is closer to the bank.

If there is some distance involved between where I am prospecting and my catch container, I can use my second engine & pump to provide power to a booster jet attached to a second 3 or 4-inch hose (See Figure B). Since the whole suction system would be underwater, I’m guessing that would give me a reach of fifty feet or more. In case you are interested, Montine in our office can help you acquire Hydro-Force nozzles and booster jets for these kinds of systems – and maybe soon there will be baffled catch containers: 530 493-2062.

The catch container would need to be large enough to accumulate the amount of pay-dirt that I would suck up on a single dive. My suggestion would be to fabricate a baffle on the feed into the container so the material would be deposited there neatly. Otherwise the water flowing out of the suction hose might boil the material out of the catch container.

If you make smart use of the blower function on the Hydro-Force nozzle, you can really minimize the amount of gravel that you transfer by suction to the catch container; perhaps so little that you can work it all down and recover your gold between dives with just a classification screen and gold pan.

If there is more non-gold bearing material present than you can blow off with the Hydro-Force nozzle, you would always have the option of sucking that off separately and depositing it outside of your catch container.

Several experienced prospectors I have spoken to about this had other ideas. One suggested fabricating the catch container between the pontoons on his floating platform. Then he could just float it over closer to the bank to pan the material after each dive. Jim Foley, who has already experimented with the idea, says he successfully attached a 20-foot piece of PVC plastic tubing to direct the discharge into a catch container that was sitting up on the streambank. This took place in the fall of 2012. Jim was visited by local game wardens while doing the activity. And while they expressed reservations (“sure looks like a dredge”), he was not cited and the wardens did not return.

While I’m sure we will learn more as we gain experience, here are a few of my own thoughts on “underwater suction gravel transfer systems:”

1) Make certain to not have the sluice box from your original “suction dredge” anywhere in the vicinity of the program. DFG regulations prevent you from having a “dredge” within 100 yards of any active waterway. Therefore, that third component (sluice) should not be sitting up on the streambank or even in the back of your pickup truck, even if you are not using it. Leave it at home!

2) Do not direct the discharge of your suction system into some other type of recovery system that uses a sluice box. Using any sluice in combination with the suction system, all working at the same time, would likely meet the regulatory definition of a “dredge.”

3) There has been some suggestion that even sluicing the recovered gravels at some later time would fulfill the definition of a dredge. You guys can make your own decisions about this, but I’m not buying the theory. The language in the regulation defines the three components working together. So it would seem reasonable that you could shut your underwater suction transfer system down and then separately process the gravel in any normal way that does not violate water quality standards. Though I would not be using the sluice that I took off my suction dredge, or any sluice which could be attached to the suction system. Be advised that you will be on thinner legal ground as soon as you have any sluice as part of your program within 100 yards of the suction system. Personally, I am inclined to carefully suck up a lower volume of only the highest-grade material and use a gold pan to work that down between dives (more on this below).

4) I would not suck a bunch of silty material into a catch container that is sitting in dead water alongside the bank. That might provoke water quality concerns. This is why I suggest using the blowing option on the Hydro-Force nozzle to first free up material out under the moving water. Gold is heavy. It won’t blow away if you pay attention to what you are doing.

5) I also would not advise using this system to make large excavations out in the creek or river. That might provoke streambed alteration concerns. I would use this method to work shallow deposits much the way we do in high-banking. Having said that, it has also been pointed out that the existing suction dredge regulations clearly state that there would be no requirement for a stream alteration permit, and there would be no deleterious impact upon fish, from the use of 4-inch suction dredges in California’s waterways. So it would seem unreasonable for DFG to make a stream alteration argument if you are careful about not making large excavations.

6) I would advise the use of rigid pressure hose between the pump and nozzle jet(s) on this type of system. It is difficult enough to keep the kinks out of lay flat pressure hose outside of the waterway.

7) Since initially, DFG wardens may not be aware of their own formal definition of a “dredge,” I suggest you print out at least the first page or two of the regulations which include the formal definition of a “dredge,” and have them available if and when any officials come around to see what you are up to. Make sure to point out the complete absence of a sluice on your suction system. And whatever you do, never refer to this activity as “dredging.”Because it is not dredging! It is an underwater suction system used to direct small volumes of high-grade material into a catch container. Nothing more. If you tell the warden you are “dredging without a sluice box,” you will probably provoke a citation, the warden telling you to explain it to the judge!

8) If any citations are written for this non-dredging underwater form of prospecting, please get in touch with us without delay. We may want to become involved with your defense.

Conclusion: I can process material through a “suction dredge” about as fast as anyone I know. Yet, my tailings do not amount to much at the end of my dives. This is because most of the underwater work has to do with freeing and moving oversized material out of the way (rocks that are too big to suck up). Depending upon the size of the suction nozzle, perhaps as much as 95% or more of the volume has to do with rolling rocks behind me. I would normally suck up the other 5% of material into my sluice box if I were “dredging.” That volume over my sluice box gives me a substantial amount of heavy concentrates to process – which takes quite a bit of time.

But with this underwater gravel transfer system, I can easily visualize how I can blow the lighter material out of my way and only suck up the pay-dirt. This would dramatically reduce the amount of material I will need to process out of my catch container. While the underwater process may not be as fast or efficient as “dredging,” I might make up for it by having fewer concentrates to process.

Please note my words in bold just above. They are perhaps the most important words I have said here. This is because if you suck everything into your catch container, it will soon fill up with low-grade material which may not be worth the time to process further! The whole idea in this new system is to get the low-grade material out of your way out in the river, and only suck up the very small volume which is directly associated with a gold deposit. Gold deposits are nearly always located in a contact zone. This means either on the bedrock, between storm layers, or on top of the upper layer of hard-pack. There is an entire education about this in the articles at this link. If you still need help understanding this, you should attend one of our weekend group mining projects and allow us to show you exactly what you are looking for!

Using this system to discriminate carefully about what you suck up will accomplish two important objectives:

A) You won’t find yourself up on the bank most of the day panning a bunch of gravel that doesn’t have much gold in it.

B) You will only use the suction system to recover a very small volume of material – only that which contains the gold. Using this as a small volume tool to help with your crevicing program will give anti-mining activists less to complain about.

There has been quite a lot of debate about this “underwater suction gravel transfer” idea on the Industry Internet forums since I have gone public with it; and finally, someone asked Mark Stopher of DFG for the straight scoop:

Here are the official answers (2 January 2013): “I carefully read (today) the information that McCracken provides on his website. I believe Dave McCracken’s description of the legal requirements and application of the regulations is accurate. If practiced as he describes, this is not a violation of the moratorium and is not prohibited.

There is no specific permit required and no seasonal restrictions. Since this is not suction dredging, neither the moratorium or our adopted regulations for suction dredging apply. It’s essentially a loophole in existing law. However, as McCracken notes, Fish and Game Code section 1602 could apply if the streambed alteration is substantial, that is, you create a big hole. My guess is that such a system will be less efficient, and less excavation will occur, than if you were using a suction dredge since there is no sluice box and miners will need to use some other system to sort through the material.”

This new idea will at least allow us access to some of the submerged gold deposits that otherwise would be out of our reach until the “dredge” moratorium is lifted in California. How’s that for good news?

We Have Acquired One of the Klamath River’s Richest Gold Properties!

Happy New Year, you guys! At long last, we have acquired the main stretch of gold-bearing river just downstream of Independence Creek. This Middle Independence Claim (K-24A in our Claims Guide) is located between our existing K-24 and K-25 mining properties, about 12 miles downriver from Happy Camp. This is a very rich gold property! The reason is because it contains three separate lines of high-grade gold: (1) Independence Creek has been depositing a steady line of larger, crystalline gold into the river for about a million years. One of Siskiyou County’s richest pocket mines is located about a mile up the creek. This gold has more of a crystalline texture to it; it is very unique! Over the years, we found a bunch of it on our K-25 property about 1 ½ miles downstream from the mouth of the creek. Some beautiful specimens were found down there! I am predicting that the best is yet to come off the east side of the river on this new property. (2) One of Siskiyou County’s richest hydraulic mines, “Bunker Hill,” directed its tail races into the Klamath River just upstream of this property. I personally have seen others recover 6 and 7-ounce days mining redeposited gold on the lower end of this property. The gold was resting directly on top of the bottom strata of original streambed. I am also predicting that the best is yet to come from redeposited gold in the shallower stretches of river on the upper portion of this new property. (3) The original streambed out in the river is rich, rich, rich! Most of it remains in place. It is going to be interesting to see if we can get at that with our suction gravel transfer systems in the upper, shallower deposits.

The reason I know so much about this property is because it is where the original gold dredging strike was made on the Klamath during 1984 which motivated me and others to emigrate over from the Trinity River. This property is where it all started! The strike was made by two of my dredging buddies that went over there ahead of me from the Trinity. They were just supposed to be on a sampling trip. I went looking for them when they didn’t return and found them on the lower end of this property. They had tapped into the redeposited gold resting on top of the original streambed. That was, by far, the most gold I ever saw in the four years that I had been dredging! Me, Eric Bosch, and about 30 of my students all picked up and moved over to the Klamath on the following day, and we never went back! We started The New 49’ers a few years later.

My two friends filed a mining claim on this 1.1-mile stretch of river, and it has been in private hands ever since. They recovered enough gold to retire within just a few years. Then they sold the property to a company of private individuals, most who did not do any serious mining there. Several of the more serious guys worked the lower portion of the claim with commercial dredges and did very well. The property has been sitting idle for many years. The owners never allowed others to crevice or high-bank the extensive reaches of exposed bedrock and shallow gravel bars which line the east bank of the river. That is the side from which both the hydraulic mine and Independence Creek have deposited their rich golden treasures into the river.

The east side of the river has extensive exposed bedrock and shallow streambed along one of the stronger gold paths.

While there has been some serious commercial dredging activity on the lower end of the property out in the middle of the river (most of the middle still remains untouched), I have never seen anyone do anything with the shallower sections of water on the east side (right side of the river on these images). The upper half of the property has faster water, making it more difficult to operate larger sized dredges. That’s why it remains relatively untouched. That presents us with an extraordinary opportunity with these more portable “underwater suction gravel transfer systems” that I have outlined above! There is also extensive opportunity for crevice mining on the surface (vack mining), and some normal high-banking activity.

A note on this: Even though the two original owners were dredging out in the middle of the river, they confided in me that one of their wives was recovering incredible gold in the shallow deposits on the east side of the river, including the crystalline nuggets from Independence creek – and that was a mile downriver from the sources of the gold! I have also never seen anyone do any shallow dredging or surface mining along the bottom end of this extensive claim. Though, several of our members had extraordinary success just downstream on our K-25 property! Extensive bedrock gently sloping off the east side of the river will make this perhaps the best above and below water sniping and crevicing area along the Klamath River! The opportunities are endless.

Once again, I find myself looking up to the stars and wondering what we did to deserve such a gift from the heavens! This property is going to make our members happy for many years to come. Once the dredge moratorium is lifted, I can guarantee you where my dredge is going to go. Meanwhile, I plan to be out there this season with an underwater suction system as described above.

There is access to the east side of the river at the upper end of the property, just downstream of Independence Creek.

We will provide more images and information about access in the coming newsletters. You don’t see them this month because the entire area around Happy Camp took on about two feet of snow just a few days before Christmas. Happy Camp is still digging out! Meanwhile, here it is on Google Earth. With the exception of a short portion of the river between Independence Creek and the bridge just upstream, we now hold nearly three continuous miles of this very rich stretch of river!

Happy Camp during Christmas of 2012!

In advance, I can tell you that the best line of gold for surface mining and underwater crevicing is going to be on the far side of the river (from the road). There is going to be some rather easy access towards the upper end. This is because a bridge there will allow us to reach the other side, park our vehicles and walk down. Access further down this very extensive property will require a boat. There are several slow sections of river that will allow relatively easy crossing (small boat with motor).

This new K-24A is only one of several very rich properties we have recently acquired along the Klamath. As long as everything firms up the way it looks at the moment, I hope to announce miles of excellent new high-banking and underwater crevicing ground over the coming winter months, in addition to this new property at Independence. These new acquisitions could actually change the location of where we will conduct our Group Mining Programs this coming season.

Schedule of Weekend Projects for 2013

All members are invited to attend our weekend Group Mining Projects and keep an equal share of the gold that we recover. Here are our planned events for the upcoming season: June 1 & 2; June 22 & 23; July 13 & 14; August 3 & 4; August 24 & 25.

New Oregon Legislation Pending

Our attorney, James Buchal, has provided us with a legal analysis of LC 2125. James says, as the proposed bill is presently written, it will not affect the suction dredge activities which are already being allowed in Oregon. Having said that, James also points out that we need to be concerned that the existing language could easily be changed on its way through Oregon’s legislative process.

The analysis points out numerous reasons why the proposed bill should be opposed altogether. I have been in contact with all or most of the industry leaders inside and outside of Oregon, and I believe there is unanimous consent that we should do everything in our power to defeat the bill. It looks like the Oregon mining associations will take the lead on this.

Since the Oregon legislature goes back in session in February, you can expect to hear more about defeating LC 2125 in the weeks and months to come.

Progress in the U.S. Supreme Court!

Here is some good news: The U.S. Supreme Court is impressed enough with our Petition (to overturn a recent 9th Circuit ruling that discourages small-scale mining on the public lands) that they have Ordered the Karuk Tribe to submit a response. This at least means our Petition is being given very serious consideration.

New Legal Fund Prize Drawing

Here is a link to our new legal fundraiser. We will be giving away 15 American Gold Eagles on 8 March 2013.

This is all in an effort to raise money to support our challenge in the U.S. Supreme Court of a recent Ninth Circuit Decision which discourages small-scale mining on the public lands — and also to support our efforts in defending multiple cases in the California court system.

We greatly appreciate your support in these fundraisers!

Only About 50 Special Editions Remaining!

As far as I know, this is the first and only adventure book ever written which brings to light the incredible excitement of discovering high-grade gold deposits – for real. I’m pleased to say that initial reviews of the book are quite good! The book includes my very best adventures and some of my best-kept secrets, including several adventures during my time in the U.S. Navy SEAL Team.

I only signed 500 hard cover Special Editions. As a special promotion, we are making these available at the very same price of the soft cover version ($19.95). The girls in our office have been taking phone orders for several months: 530 493-2062. There are only around 50 Special Editions remaining, available on a first come, first served, basis.

“Extreme Prospector,” is also available as an ebook from Amazon for half the conventional book price ($9.95). As an Internet download, most of the images come through in color (about 250 of them) and the hyperlinks work. You can find the ebook, along with normal soft and hard cover versions of the book, right here.

Please Join Me on Facebook and Twitter!

With the launch of Extreme Prospector, I have started up a blog which broadens the context to ongoing adventures and other important news and issues that we are all facing today. These include discussion and links to informative information about the economic realities of our time. Important stuff!

My latest blog released the news about this new “motorized underwater suction mining” concept weeks before you are seeing it in this newsletter. I provide updates in the blog as soon as I am aware of them.

If you are interested in up-to-date news, along with stories about extreme prospecting adventures (not just mine), I invite you to visit my Facebook page at facebook/DaveMackExtreme and follow me on Twitter @DaveMackExtreme. There is a “Free eBook” tab on my Facebook page where you can download Chapter 10 of Extreme Prospector.

I hope a bunch of you guys and gals will join me up there and encourage all of you to join in the discussion and “Like” my page to share with your friends.

Lost Treasure Hunters on Youtube!

For any of you guys who missed our first episode of Lost Treasure Hunters on Animal Planet, it is now playing on youtube. Check it out!

Sign up for the Free Internet Version of this Newsletter

We strongly encourage you to sign up for the free on line version of this newsletter. The Internet version is better, because you can immediately click directly to many of the subjects which we discuss; because the on line version is in full color; because we link you directly to locations through GPS and Google Earth technology; and because you can watch the free video segments which we incorporate into our stories.

Signing up also places you on our Political Action Team. Things happen so fast these days; it takes too long to organize political action through the U.S. mail. As an example, just two years ago, in concert with other mining organizations, our Internet Action Team killed anti-mining legislation in Oregon in less than a week. It is a near guarantee that we will be calling for industry-wide action to defeat this new legislation being proposed in Oregon before you even see another of these newsletters. All of these future battles will be organized over the Internet since it is so much faster. Please join us in the battle to maintain our remaining freedoms!

Jim Yerby sent these images several days ago. He says the Rogue River was perhaps as much as 20 feet higher than normal summer flows, even in the wide section of the river. A flood of this magnitude can only help redeposit the kind of higher-grade gold deposits we are looking for during the summer months. Storm flows will also wash away the last of the sediments which migrated down from behind the dams that were removed two years ago. It’s all good. I’m already getting excited about the 2013 season!

New High-banking Properties Along the Klamath River!

Merry Christmas, you guys! We are quietly confirming acquisition of several new mining claims along the Klamath River. As long as everything firms up the way it looks at the moment, I hope to announce miles of excellent new high-banking ground over the coming month or so. Once we resume dredging in California, one of the properties contains some of the richest underwater mining along the Klamath, much of it remaining untouched. Extensive bedrock gently sloping off the far side of the river will make this perhaps the best above and below water sniping and crevicing area along the Klamath River!

I’ll provide more explanation once all our confirmations are complete. All I can say right now is that there is reason to be very excited. Once in a while, the sun really does smile on us! These new acquisitions could actually change the location of where we will conduct our Group Mining Programs this coming season.

The only reason I am not including some initial images with this newsletter is that, due to the recent storms, all of the new high-banking areas are presently underwater. The Klamath River is also busy re-concentrating high-grade gold deposits! Way to go!!

What to do with Days, Deadman & Myrtle Creeks?

As some of you may recall, our property acquisitions last year were all on the South Fork of the Umpqua River drainage in southern Oregon. Here is the map. It began with miles and miles of new properties along the South Umpqua. To supplement the river with some creek properties, we also acquired claims along Days, Deadman & Myrtle Creeks in the vicinity of our new river properties.

It was all very exciting until the Ninth Circuit sided with anti-mining advocates with a Decision that made it much more difficult to start up a group mining program on the U.S. National Forest. We are now appealing this Decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. Meanwhile, our new mining properties along the South Umpqua are in a state of limbo. There still remain miles and miles of proven dredging property on the South Umpqua available on the State Lands. Those areas are shown on our South Umpqua Access Guide.

Our new properties on Days, Deadman & Myrtle Creeks are located on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) managed lands, which are not affected by the Ninth Circuit’s Decision. Unfortunately, the reports we have received in the office from members who spent time on these creeks last summer were that prospecting results have been poor-to-terrible.

I hate the idea of getting members all excited about going to places where they cannot find enough gold to make the effort worthwhile. Since these properties were only meant to supplement what we acquired on the South Umpqua, and the South Umpqua properties will not be available until we win in the U.S. Supreme Court, we are considering dropping the new claims on Days, Deadman & Myrtle Creek.

Therefore, this is a query to our members to determine if there are any objections, or if anybody had some fruitful prospecting experiences along these creek properties that we are unaware of? Comments should be directed to me at davemack@extremeprospector.com

Since the Ninth Circuit Decision has slowed our effective expansion into other areas, we will now focus our resources in the short term into acquisition of more high-grade properties along the Klamath River in the vicinity of Happy Camp in northern California. Please stay tuned for the good news!

Passing of Bill Stumpf

I am sorry to report that long time New 49’er founding member, Bill Stumpf, recently passed away from a six-month battle with cancer. He was 73.

Many of us remember Bill as the long time tour guide to the New 49’er mining properties. He freely shared his knowledge of dredging, high-banking and mossing with many hundreds of miners, families and friends. His knowledge of the Klamath River area and his ready helpfulness will be missed by many.

Bill and his wife at the time, Marcy, also helped start the Pro-Mack Mining Supply store in Happy Camp during 1987. They played a very big part in organizing and managing The New 49ers all the way through the late 1990’s. Bill managed all of the weekend mining projects for many years while I was busy on other things.

Bill was one of the most loyal friends I have had in this life. We went through a lot together, through thick and thin. I could write a whole book on just the adventures (and misadventures) we went through together. Bill was a very kind person. He had a lot of friends. We will miss him a lot. He leaves behind his wife of many years, Jan Stumpf, 1115 Dakota Avenue, Medford, OR 97501, and his two sons, Danny & David, who were very active commercial gold dredgers (both winter and summer) in the Club during the early 90’s.

Special Sneak Preview of Lost Treasure Hunters!

I just got word that Animal Planet is tentatively planning to air a sneak preview of Lost Treasure Hunters at 11 PM on 23 December. The producer says that people should check with their local channel listings, because all of this is subject to change. I gather that our show is supposed to follow the new season premiere of “Finding Bigfoot.” The producer also said that the international networks in Asia and Europe have picked up our show. It’s all good news. Now let’s hope for some good ratings! For those of you who go to bed early like me, don’t forget to set your DVR’s! I’ll be very interested in your comments on my Facebook page (see below).

Only 200 Special Editions Remaining!

At long last, my new 512-page book“Extreme Prospector” has been delivered from the printer. The book includes my very best adventures, all rewritten to include plenty of detail and some of my best-kept secrets, including several adventures during my time in the Navy SEAL Team. As far as I know, this is the first and only adventure book ever written which brings to light the incredible excitement of discovering high-grade gold deposits – for real. I am pleased to say that initial reviews of the book are quite good!

I only signed 500 hard cover Special Editions. As a special promotion, we are making these Special Editions available at the very same price of the soft cover version ($19.95). The girls in our office have been taking phone orders since we put out the October newsletter: 530 493-2062. The first 300 have already been committed. The last remaining 200 Special Editions are now available on a first come, first served, basis.

“Extreme Prospector,” is also available as an ebook from Amazon for half the conventional book price ($9.95). As an Internet download, most of the images come through in color (about 250 of them) and the hyperlinks work. You can find the ebook, along with normal soft and hard cover versions of the book, right here.

Please Join Me on Facebook and Twitter!

Since this is a New 49’er newsletter, with a very rare exception, I try and keep the news on track with the things that are happening with our organization, and with the larger issues which directly affect us. We also try and keep our Internet Forum mostly on mining-related subjects, though we do allow a little more leeway there.

But with the launch of Extreme Prospector, I have started up a blog which broadens the context to ongoing adventures and other important news and issues that we are all facing today. These include discussion and links to informative information about the economic realities of our time. Important stuff!

Just as an example, my latest blog outlines the startling truth that all of these budget battles going on right now in congress about how to avoid the “fiscal cliff” in January is largely about trying to lessen the pain of an automatic cut from the federal budget of 109 billion dollars for each of the next 10 years, while overspending is still projected to be 10 times that much. Yes; the big fight is over only 10% of overspending!

The truth is that there is no real fiscal responsibility being promoted by either political party. Even if the sequestration budget cuts begin in January, our federal government is still going to be running us another trillion dollars or more in the hole every year! So what is all the noise about? The truth is that we are being fed a line of BS by our politicians and the press while America’s ship is sinking by the day. What good is bailing 10% of water that is flooding in to sink the ship? The big fight is over 10% while nobody is doing anything about the bigger problem! This is the reality which we are all facing! Looking out ahead, the major “fiscal cliff” is still to come. This means we should be planning for big trouble ahead. It also means gold has nowhere to go but up, up, up!

If you are interested in these types of affairs, along with news about extreme prospecting adventures (not just mine), I invite you to visit my Facebook page at facebook/DaveMackExtreme and follow me on Twitter@DaveMackExtreme. There is a “Free eBook” tab on my Facebook page where you can download Chapter 10 of Extreme Prospector.

I hope a bunch of you guys and gals will join me up there and encourage all of you to join in the discussion and “Like” my page to share with your friends.

Sign up for the Free Internet Version of this Newsletter

We strongly encourage you to sign up for the free on line version of this newsletter. The Internet version is better, because you can immediately click directly to many of the subjects which we discuss; because the on line version is in full color; because we link you directly to locations through GPS and Google Earth technology; and because you can watch the free video segments which we incorporate into our stories.

Signing up also places you on our Political Action Team. Things happen so fast these days; it takes too long to organize political action through the U.S. mail. As an example, just two years ago, in concert with other mining organizations, our Internet Action Team killed anti-mining legislation in Oregon in less than a week. Just as we go to press with this newsletter, we have our attorney analyzing a new bill (LC 2125) in Oregon which looks on its face to be something we must fight. All of these future battles will be organized over the Internet since it is so much faster.

The drawing for three ounces of my personal gold nuggets took place at closing time in our offices in Happy Camp on 9 November. Because she had no personal interest in the outcome, we asked Connie Rasmussen from the gift store next door to draw the tickets. At least six members made the trip to Happy Camp to be present for the drawing. Here are the winners:

Thank you to everyone who participated in this fundraiser. I was really getting worried, because there did not seem to be very much interest up until the last several days. Perhaps everyone was focused on the election. The girls in the office said the phone started ringing off the hook with supporters calling in contributions as soon as the election results were announced! We can count this fundraiser as a winner for everyone.

Congratulations to all the winners. Those beautiful nuggets of gold are yours now. I hope you appreciate them as much as I did. I feel very fortunate that they have been invested into such a worthy cause.

Any contributions received after the time of the drawing will automatically generate tickets for our next prize drawing, which will be for 25 Gold Eagles. Our next drawing will take place at our offices in Happy Camp on Friday afternoon, 8 March 2013. You do not need to be a member of our organization to participate. You do not need to be present to win. Our office will automatically generate a ticket in your name for every $10 legal contribution we receive ($100 would generate 10 tickets). There is no limit to the size or frequency of your contributions, or to the number of prizes you can win.

Legal contributions can be arranged by calling (530) 493-2012, by mailing to The New 49′ers, P.O. Box 47, Happy Camp, CA 96039, or you can do it online by clicking here:

Just so you guys will know where your legal contributions are going, I asked our attorney to write up a summary of all the legal cases we are involved with in support of small-scale miners. That has been posted right here:

USFS Opposes our Petition to the U.S. Supreme Court!

Many of you will be aware that we have been engaged in litigation with anti-mining activists that have been attacking us through the Karuk Tribe of California since 2003. It all started with their lawsuit against the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), challenging that District Rangers do not have the authority to allow small-scale mining activities under a Notice of Intent (NOI) when the Ranger concludes that the mining activity is not likely to create a substantial surface disturbance.

Several months ago, after years and years of litigation, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the Karuk Tribe. USFS declined to appeal that Decision. As the last remaining party in the case, The New 49’ers were the only organization that had standing to file a Petition to the Supreme Court. I talked more about the important ramifications of this case to America’s mining industry in our September newsletter, so I won’t repeat most of that here.

Our Petition for the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the misguided Ninth Circuit Decision was filed on August 29, 2012. Our fundraisers (above) are an effort to keep up with these and other legal fees defending the rights of small-scale miners.

After devoting nine years defending this case in federal court against anti-mining activists, the Justice Department (Obama Administration) declined to appeal the Ninth Circuit Decision to the Supreme Court. So we should not be surprised that they have just filed a brief in Opposition to our Petition; even if it is totally unbelievable that we are appealing the Decision that they lost! Here is our Reply.

Now the Good News: Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) has filed a brief supporting our Petition to the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the recent Decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals which discourages prospecting on America’s public lands. The brief was filed on behalf of PLF, Waldo Mining Association (Waldo), and Eastern Oregon Mining Association (EOMA).

Pacific Legal Foundation is another very influential, national property rights foundation which takes a lot of cases to the U.S. Supreme Court. PLF’s brief in support of our Petition argues how the Ninth Circuit Decision is already discouraging prospecting on the public lands as a direct contradiction to the will of Congress.

PLF’s brief also points out that the erroneous Decision by the Ninth Circuit would basically place an overwhelming regulatory burden upon any and every private activity (not just in mining) in which the federal government has an oversight interest, even when the federal government determines that no regulation applies.

We appreciate it very much that our brothers and sisters at EOMA and Waldo are supporting our efforts to get this terrible Ninth Circuit Decision overturned. PLF’s supporting brief, along with the supporting brief filed by Mountain States Legal Foundation on behalf of the Northwest Mining Association (see our October newsletter), increases the chances that the Supreme Court will accept our case. NWMA’s brief presents supporting arguments (to our Petition) why the Supreme Court must overturn the misguided Decision of the Ninth Circuit, or there will be dire consequences to America’s mining industry, and also nothing to prevent extremist environmental organizations from challenging private enterprise in any area where the federal government has an oversight interest – which is just about everywhere these days.

As far as I know, we are the only organization solely representing small-scale miners that has taken a case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, at least since I have been involved with mining. The final result of this case will have very important consequences upon America for the foreseeable future. All of you who support our efforts should feel some pride that we are standing up to do the right thing for the future of our country. We should also be gratified that the bigger players, Pacific Legal Foundation and Mountain States Legal Foundation, have joined in our cause.

Special Edition of “Extreme Prospector” is now Available!

At long last, my new 512-page book“Extreme Prospector” has been printed!

I have devoted a full year of my creative energy into this project!The book includes my very best adventures, all rewritten to include plenty of detail and some of my best-kept secrets, including several adventures during my time in the U.S. Navy SEAL Team. As far as I know, this is the first and only adventure book ever written which brings to light the incredible excitement of discovering high-grade gold deposits – for real. I am pleased to say that initial reviews of the book are quite good!

I started working hard on this book as soon as Discovery Network confirmed that several of my prospecting buddies and I were going to cast in a reality show (coming soon). I view the expanded exposure as an opportunity to raise interest in small-scale prospecting, and to raise awareness that it is big government in concert with widespread financial shenanigans that are suffocating all the life out of the American Dream.

I only signed 500 hard cover Special Editions. As a special promotion, we are making these Special Editions available at the very same price of the soft cover version ($19.95). We will be delivering the book during the third week of November. The girls in our office have been taking phone orders since we put out the October newsletter. The first 200 have already been committed. The last remaining 300 Special Editions are now available on a first come, first served, basis.

“Extreme Prospector,” is also available as an ebook from Amazon for half the conventional book price ($9.95). As an Internet download, most of the images come through in color (about 250 of them) and the hyperlinks work. You can find the ebook, along with normal soft and hard cover versions of the book, right here.

Since I mentioned the Animal Planet reality show above, I should also let you know that they have now placed a 5-minute video promotion on line. Check it out; it will give you some idea how the show is going to play out!

Please Join Me on Facebook and Twitter!

Since this is a New 49’er newsletter, with a very rare exception, I try and keep the news on track with the things that are happening with our organization, and with the larger issues which directly affect us. We also try and keep our Internet Forum on mostly mining-related subjects, though we do allow a little more leeway there.

But with the launch of Extreme Prospector, I have started up a blog which broadens the context to ongoing adventures and other important news and issues that we are all facing today. These include discussion and links to informative information about the economic realities of our time. Important stuff!

Just as an example, An American friend of mine and I took a drive down to Bataan about a week ago. That is Bataan, as in the “Bataan Death March,” which began on 12 April, 1942. My understanding of the history is that we were not able to hold off the invasion because there was no replenishment of supplies and reinforcements. This was because the Japanese took out our Pacific fleet in Hawaii on the same day they invaded the Philippines. After months of fighting against overwhelming odds, 76,000 American and Filipino soldiers finally surrendered to the Japanese army on the 9th of April, 1942. Yes; I got that number right!

While the story is heartbreaking, we should also be inspired and reminded that no matter how bad things can get, there always remains hope that we can come back and win the day. While we are going through difficult times in America today, we have come back from much worse situations. It’s not over until it is over!

If you are interested in these types of affairs, along with news about extreme prospecting adventures (not just mine), I invite you to visit my Facebook page at facebook/DaveMackExtreme and follow me on Twitter @DaveMackExtreme. There is a “Free eBook” tab on my Facebook page where you can download Chapter 10 of Extreme Prospector.

I hope a bunch of you guys and gals will join me up there and encourage all of you to join in the discussion and “Like” my page to share with your friends.

Sign up for the Free Internet Version of this Newsletter

We strongly encourage you to sign up for the free on line version of this newsletter. The Internet version is better, because you can immediately click directly to many of the subjects which we discuss; because the on line version is in full color; because we link you directly to locations through GPS and Google Earth technology; and because you can watch the free video segments which we incorporate into our stories.